I recently read The Da Vinci Code with mounting incredulity that this relatively formulaic thriller can have caused so much interest when the last twenty years have seen an abundance of Holy Grail / Holy Blood / Secret Gospel / Knights Templar books all retelling or re-inventing the same tale - which as far as I can tell is about 10% history and 90% phooey.

Since at least The Last Days of Pompeii the historical novel has flourished. There are excellent authors who write with real historical   knowledge and empathy. I frankly confess my interest in Crete began with The Bull from the Sea.  This is absolutely fine as long as no one is under any delusion as to what they are reading.

Fashion changes in historical mysteries. Once the lost tribes of Israel and extra-terrestrials in Pre-Columbian art were hot topics, now it is finding the Ark of the Covenant and Atlantis. Somewhere in this melange there may even be theories, such as those on the astronomical alignment of pre-historic monuments, which have real merit.  However, we need to resist the peddling of fiction, faction and pseudo-history as something more than it is, which unfortunately increasingly seems to be the case by some book clubs and the media. There is no harm in a good read, but don't miss out on the fun of spotting the misreadings, false logic and outright howlers.